Blue in the Face by Gerry Swallow (2016)
After enjoying the first two Whole Nother Story books by “Dr. Cuthbert Soup,” I decided to read more by Gerry Swallow. When I first sat down to read Blue in the Face, I must admit I was nearly ready to give up and save it for later. One of the reasons I love my stolen moments of reading fiction is to escape the craziness of my daily life, so to open the book and be smack dab in the middle of a girl’s awful tantrum, didn’t sound quite so relaxing. But, being a fan of Swallow’s writing and stories, I pushed on. It didn’t take long to be hooked.
Young Elspeth Pule throws a tantrum so over the top that she blacks out and wakes up in a land of nursery rhyme characters. Much like the premise of the recent Alice in Wonderland movie, all the characters seem to think she is destined to be the one who will help rescue them. Their kingdom has been taken over by Old King Krool who has banished many of the townspeople, such as Humpty and BoPeep, to the forest. I wasn’t sure how the story would unfold, as it took me awhile to warm up to Elspeth, but the entertaining plot and nursery rhyme characters kept me reading. Eventually, Elspeth grows and becomes more likable, and her stubbornness and anger are exactly what are needed to help everybody gear up for their big battle.
Although my daughter is too young to read this, I told her the story bit by bit as I read it each night, and she was just as engrossed in it as I was. It was a good opportunity to explain to her that while we expect certain behavior at home or with friends, sometimes feistiness, stubbornness, and even anger can be helpful qualities in extreme situations. I talked about Constance Contraire from The Mysterious Benedict Society as well, and even brought up how people’s anger with certain current situations may be helping us get to a place of positive change.
I digress. Blue in the Face was an enjoyable, quick read, and I’m so pleased to see a second book in the series.
Quote from Blue in the Face:
“Whether you believe it or not, you were meant to do great things.” ch. 15